1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a liquid crystal display (LCD), and more particularly to a method of resizing an LCD.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal displays (LCD) are well known throughout the art. An active matrix LCD includes row and column address lines and corresponding driving circuitry. This type of display is commonly known as an xe2x80x9cX-Y active matrix type LCD.xe2x80x9d The row and column address lines are typically driven from two to four sides of the LCD. That is, the row address lines are driven from one or two sides of the display and the column address lines are driven from one or two of the remaining sides of the display. In the case that two drivers are used for the row or column address lines, the lines are driven from opposing sides and are interdigitated.
The row and column address line driver chips are typically mounted on separate printed circuit boards disposed adjacent to the sides of the display panel and function to interface the driver chips with a central controller for controlling the output of the LCD. A flexible circuit assembly is often used for the driver chips.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one typical configuration of a conventional LCD. The LCD illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a display panel 10 and a plurality of flex circuits 11 and 14 that support row drivers 12 and column drivers 13, respectively. The row and column drivers 12 and 13 supported on the flex circuits 11 and 14 are connected to the individual address lines (row or column) and extend to the edge of the display panel 10. The flex circuits are typically orthogonal to the plane of the display panel 10 to minimize the additional border area required around the display. Circuit boards 15 and 16 and connectors 17 and 18 interface the driver chips to the central controller.
Another typical configuration for a conventional LCD includes individual driver TABs (tape automated bonding) along each of the sides of the LCD and providing a separate rigid circuit board adjacent each side of the display. Each circuit board interfaces the circuit board with the driver TABs mounted along the corresponding side of the display panel 10. One such driver TAB is illustrated in FIG. 2. The TAB 20 is mounted along an edge of the display panel 10 with the address lines electrically connected to the output leads 29 of driver TAB 20. Window 25 is provided so that output lead support 32 may be mounted to the display panel 10 and base portion 21 can be bent orthogonally to the display panel 10. The base portion 21 includes a plurality of copper input and output traces 31 and 29, respectively. The driver chip 27 is electrically connected to input and output traces 31 and 29, respectively. Input traces 31 receive input signals from the central controller via input connector 34.
The conventional LCDs described above are typically available in various standard sizes. However, an intermediary manufacturer may find it necessary to reduce the size of, or resize, an LCD to conform to the precise specification requirements of the intended use of the LCD. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the intermediary manufacturer may be required to reduce the size and/or change the aspect ratio of an LCD by physically cutting away the undesired portions 38 of the LCD, while maintaining the integrity of the desired portion 37. In doing so, the LCD may optionally be converted from landscape mode to portrait mode, or vice versa.
However, resizing an LCD presents many obstacles due to its construction. The display panel 10 is a laminated glass structure, which includes a pair of opposing transparent glass plates sealed peripherally so as to define a planar cavity in which a liquid crystal layer is retained. When cutting the display panel 10 by scribing the glass plates, the lower plate (active plate) may be damaged by compressive stress when the upper plate (passive plate) is separated at the scribe. In addition, large gas bubbles may appear near the cut edge of the display panel 10 prior to sealing the cut edge, making the LCD unusable.
Further, a method of cutting the associated TABs, flex circuits and/or circuit boards described above is required. That is, a method is needed to remove undesired portions, while maintaining the integrity of the desired portions of the associated TABs, flex circuits and/or circuit boards such that their final size corresponds to the desired size of the display panel.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method of resizing an LCD while maintaining the integrity of all remaining desired portions of the LCD.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of resizing a display panel of the LCD without damaging the active plate of the display panel.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method for repairing the cut edge by replacing accumulated gas bubbles with liquid crystal material.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method for sealing the cut edge of the display panel, which allows gas bubbles to escape from the seal region into the sealing adhesive.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method for removing undesired portions of any associated TABs, flex circuits and/or circuit boards, while maintaining the integrity of the desired portions corresponding to the desired size of the display panel.
To achieve the above objects, provided in accordance with the present invention is a method of resizing a liquid crystal display (LCD). The method includes the steps of first determining a desired size for the LCD, thereby identifying an undesired portion of the LCD. Any tape automated bonding strips (TABs) corresponding to the undesired portions of the LCD are then removed. Any flex circuits, or portion thereof, corresponding to the undesired portion of the LCD are cut and removed. Any circuit boards, or portions thereof, corresponding to the undesired portion of the LCD are cut and removed. The display panel is cut to remove a portion of the display panel corresponding to the undesired portion of the LCD. Finally, the cut edge of the display panel is sealed.